The co-creator of the microchip and driving force behind Silicon Valley, Robert Noyce, has become the latest famous figure to be honoured by Google.

The search engine's Doodle design celebrates what would have been Noyce's 84th birthday with a stylised electronic chip on its home page.

The entrepreneur is credited along with Jack Kilby with the invention of the integrated circuit, which sparked far-reaching digital developments and gave the high-tech Californian region its name: Silicon Valley.

Noyce co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968. So it seems fitting that he should get a birthday tribute from one of Silicon Valley's most powerful technology companies.

Noyce died in 1990 in Austin, Texas, aged 62. His family set up the Noyce Foundation, which works to improve the teaching of maths, science and literacy in US schools.

• This article was amended on 13 December 2011 because the original said Noyce died aged 60. This has been corrected.